IT IS two years this week since the Harry Kane story started in earnest, with the striker scoring on his first Premier League start for Tottenham.

Harry Kane has been in every Tottenham starting line-up in the Premier League since November 2014

But if Tim Sherwood, the manager who got the ball rolling on this extraordinary tale by giving Kane his big chance, had believed the scouting reports he got back from Kane's various loan moves, the man set to lead England into Euro 2016 would now be plying his trade in League One.

Spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester, together with a handful of Europa League stints with Spurs, had offered little to suggest Kane would soon be heading the Premier League scoring charts. Luckily, Sherwood's belief in his player was strong enough to ignore the feedback he was getting.

"I spoke to the managers players were working for when they went out on loan," Sherwood said. "But I always maintain that I never listened too much to the reports of the other manager. I never used those to judge a player too far.

"Other people could judge him a certain way, I didn't. Because if you judged Harry Kane on his loans, then he would probably be a League One player now.

"But that just shows the character of the kid. He took those knocks by going on loan and being told he was not good enough - basically, that is what they were saying by not playing him. They were saying he was not up to standard."

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Just three years ago, Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane were sitting on the Leicester bench in the Championship. Now they are lighting up England and the Premier League

Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy are staking their claim for a spot in the England squad for Euro 2016 but things were different for the pair just three years ago

"One of our scouts came back to the club and told the manager at the time Harry Redknapp, 'You've got to get Harry back out of Millwall'.

"Luckily I overheard the conversation and stepped in. 'Where do you want him to go?' I asked. 'Some club where he smashes the ball 40 yards over the bar and it doesn't matter because the crowd give him a clap?' It was character-building - the making of the man.

"He ended up scoring seven goals in the final 14 games of the season and was named the club's young player of the year. It was one of the most successful loan spells he had.

"A lot of players could have gone under, but he could handle it. He is a tough cookie."